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Publicity Tactics: How to Become a Respected Name in Your Industry So You Can Get More Clients

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you’re like most consultants, the biggest problem you have when talking to new clients is to answer the question, “Why should I hire you instead of Katherine?”

And if you are like most consultants, you’ll point to your college degrees and rattle off the names of your clients.

The trouble is, most consultants can match you stride for stride, name for name.

So what can make you stand out?

The Media.

If you are quoted in the media, you stand out from any competitor who hasn’t been on TV or quoted in the newspapers or magazines.

When people see your name in the media they think you are a star, a celebrity or just plain someone they can trust.

That kind of branding from the media is invaluable in creating your own brand and making you stand out from your competitors.

Getting quoted in the media is the first step.

Once you’ve been quoted, you have to take the second step, which is to use that media as a marketing piece.

You see, it isn’t enough that you’ve been quoted. You can’t be assured that your prospects have seen the article. After all, do you read every article in every newspaper you subscribe to? Neither do your prospects.

It is up to you to send that article to all your clients, prospects and former clients so you can build your business. That’s an essential publicity tactic. This free publicity tip also helps improve your branding and image.

You can send them the hard copy printout of the article via mail. Or you can get an electronic version from the Internet and email it to your list.

In either case, this publicity tactic is a great way to stay in touch with the people who are in a position to hire you.

The truth about marketing is that you must stay in touch with your prospects. You can’t rely on them to remember that you are still in business. You need to be in front of them when they are ready to buy. Sending your media clips to them performs that function.

Usually, media articles contain information that helps the reader. When you send an article to a prospect you are sharing that information that can help them solve a problem or make more money. And the fact that you are the one who is quoted is a double plus in their eyes.

Be sure to personalize this so you really make an impact. Include a short note saying, “I thought you’d like to see this.” Or “This reminded me of our conversation a while back.” Or something else that is meaningful and true.

If you follow this process, you will become one of the most respected names in your field-  in the minds of your prospects.

Filed Under: branding, publicity, publicity thought leader

Branding: US Post Office: The Beginning of the End

December 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When I was a kid, every comedian had a standard joke about the post office and the punch line was that a letter sent 27 years ago arrived today. The post office used to be massively inefficient.

Now, the USPS is a model of efficiency. Mail can reach its destination the very next day.

Most days.

Netflix built its business model on the reliability of the post office delivery. Did you ever have to wait more than a day to get a movie from Netflix? Thank the post office.

But now, because of budget calculations, the post office has announced that they will no longer be able to offer next-day service for first-class mail. This is a horrible business mistake and a horrendous branding mistake that will lead to a crisis communications quagmire.

What business consultant would tell its client that is losing its market share to make the service worse?

How can providing less service help bring about more business?

It can’t.

It can lead only to more customer dissatisfaction, which will lead to customer defection. Then the comedians will step in like vultures descending on a carcass.

I, for one, loved the efficiency of the post office – and my very friendly counter people. Now, I think I’ll be forced – by the post office – to pay my bills via e-banking, which is extremely reliable.

My 42 cents may not amount to a hill of beans, but added to the millions of people who already pay bills with e-banking, it will be the bean that broke the camel’s back.

I see a death spiral for the post office – and a fortune to be made by crisis communications managers and branding experts.

Filed Under: branding, Marketing Misc.

Book Cover Design: Is this the most minimalist book cover ever?

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever sweated over the design of your book cover, or if you’ve paid a small fortune to a book cover designer to get it “just right” then you might not appreciate this book cover for “How Literature Works: 50 Key Concepts,” by John Sutherland. It is published by Oxford University Press. Maybe when you are Oxford, you don’t have to think about book design!

 

It is a wonderful book. I now realize that every book I’ve read on an airplane over the past 20 years would not be classified as “literature.” And they call TV a vast wasteland. <g> Those books sure were entertaining, though!

Filed Under: book marketing, book publicity, book publishing, branding

Publicity Tactic: Are Your Biggest Competitors Really Your Best Friends?

August 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

My article on Publicity Ethics last week really struck a chord. I received many “good job” messages and only a handful of unsubs.

Vijay asked a good question. Could I provide examples of “co-opetition” the word that means how to work with your competitors?

Some of my best friends are “competitors.” That is, we all offer PR services to authors, speakers, coaches, consultants and small businesses. However, we all offer a slightly different part of the publicity puzzle.

I provide leads and press releases.

Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, offers advice and training materials.
Jess Todfeld, Karen Friedman, Shawne Duperon, TJ Walker and Susan Harrow offer media training. They are all in different parts of the country, so I can match prospects with them based on geography and fit.

Jonathan Bernstein offers crisis communications counseling.

Bruce Freeman pitches the media.

Of course, I’m pals with Jill Lublin, Steve Harrison, Bill Harrison, Jim Bowman, Mark Harty, David Mathison, Nancy Juetten, Raleigh Pinsky, David Newman, Alex Carrol, Rick Frishman, Robert Stack, and a zillion other people who have helped me and vice versa.

While we are all in PR, we all do different parts of PR, so we can freely refer clients to each other knowing that we are helping our clients find the best person for the job.

That’s co-opetition.

We also might exchange small commissions (or not, depending on the relationship) and that sweetens the pot.

We also can pick up the phone and call each other to get feedback on our problems and insights into our ideas. I’ve killed many projects when my buddies told me the idea was stupid or already done. And I’ve had ideas made better with the suggestions of my co-opetitors.

There’s an old saying in the martial arts that you use your opponents force to your advantage. If he punches, you use that momentum to thrown him.

The same is true with co-opetition. If you try to fight your opponents, you waste energy and can get a fist in the face. If you use their momentum, you win, they win and the mutual client wins.

Try it.

Who are your biggest competitors? Can they turn into natural allies?

Filed Under: book marketing, branding, Marketing, Uncategorized

What’s Your PR LEADS Success Story?

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What’s Your PR LEADS Success Story?

I need to do a better job of telling my story and I need your help.

If you’ve gotten work, a book contract, a speech or any other result from the publicity you’ve received through PR LEADS, then I’d like to help you promote your success story!

For example, I blogged and wrote a press release for these clients:

Lingerie Company Increases Sales by 65% Thanks to Publicity from PR LEADS

Intuition Author Credits PR LEADS with Landing New Book Contract

PR LEADS Helps Organic Chemist Get Publicity in National Magazines

What’s in it for you?

More fame and publicity!

These press releases ranked very high (and I mean first page) for the search terms. That means more people will find you!

Interested? Go to my Facebook page and write two sentences about your success. I’ll contact you with the next steps.

Share your success at
http://www.facebook.com/prleads

Oh yes, there is no fee to you. This is about me helping you and you helping me. Isn’t that the way life is supposed to be?

Share your success at:
http://www.facebook.com/prleads

Filed Under: branding, free publicity, publicity stunt

Intuition Author Credits PR LEADS with Landing New Book Contract

July 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Lynn Robinson

Lynn Robinson, Intuition Author

Intuition author Lynn Robinson credited the PR LEADS publicity service with helping her get a book contract.

“I just signed a contract with Jossey Bass (a division of Wiley & Sons) to revise and update my first book, ‘Divine Intuition: Your Guide to Creating a Life You Love.’  The fact that I’d received so much media attention was one of the factors that sealed the deal!” she said. The book will be in bookstores in late 2012. Her current books, including “Listen” and “Trust Your Gut” are available on her website and at Amazon.com

“Intuition is a gift from the Universe — from God, if you will — that will guide us unerringly to the realization of our hopes and dreams,” says Robinson, author of this uncommonly readable book. Using personal experience, beautiful illustrations, inspiring quotes, simple exercises, and stories from thousands of clients, Robinson demonstrates that intuition is a gift from the Universe that anyone can cultivate as an unwavering and reliable source of wisdom and guidance.

Trust Your Gut

"Trust Your Gut," by Lynn Robinson

Thanks, Lynn!

Do you have a success story about how PR LEADS helped you get a contract, a client, a job, a speech or anything else that’s really cool? Tell me about it and I’ll tell the world. I’ll write a press release about your success so you can build your brand, get more links that will help your website visibility on Google and help your visibility in general.

I realized recently that if I don’t toot my horn, well, you know the story. So I’m collecting case studies and sharing them with the world.
What’s your story? Please email me: dan@prleads.com and tell me what’s up!

 

Filed Under: authors, book marketing, book publicity, book publishing, branding, publicity, results

How can I get more publicity from my blog or ezine?

March 14, 2011 By 1 Comment

When you write an ezine, be sure to post the article to your blog. Google could index it and it could rank high in their results. I can’t guarantee that will happen to you, but it does happen when I do it.

Here’s proof.

Within a few minutes of posting the article, it appeared on page 1 of Google.

Filed Under: book publicity, branding, publicity, search engine optimization

How To Lose Your Brand Identity in Three Easy Steps

September 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kids today don’t know who Colonel Sanders Is!

Horrors!

Don’t schools teach kids anything anymore?

I mean how can an entire generation of kids not know the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken and an icon to many generations of adults?

Well, it is easy, it turns out, to lose your brand.

First step: Drop your brand assets, like the good colonel. If people don’t see him, they won’t get to know him. Repeat for many years and you’ll have young consumers who don’t know and don’t care.

Second Step: Change the image of the colonel from a clearly defined picture to a vague ink drawing that could be anyone. That way the image won’t be distinct and remembered.

Third Step: Change the name of the company from Kentucky Fried Chicken to a bunch of meaningless letters like KFC, which might be a nice segue for the market that remembers you but is completely meaningless and emotionless to the new generation.

There you have it. How to lose your brand in three easy steps!

KFC says it will re-introduce the Colonel in its ads. Let’s see how that goes.

I wonder what Speedy Alka Seltzer, the Jolly Green Giant and Mr Peanut would say.

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. To see how you can improve your business, go to http://www.prleadsplus.com

This article can be reprinted on your website.

Filed Under: branding Tagged With: ,

Position Yourself as an Expert: Host Your Own Contest

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’m a big fan of TV competition shows to find the next Food Network Star and the next design star. So you know I’d love it when someone takes that great idea and brings it to a level that you and I can benefit from. So let me tell you about my friend Linda Claire Puig and her great idea.

She’s hosting a contest called “Next Top Newsletter Showdown.”

I love this idea!

Here’s an excerpt from her pitch letter:

It’s not only a contest with some great prizes and exposure, but it’s also the kickoff to nearly a month of newsletter-related, events, learning, prizes and exciting opportunities related to newsletters and creating newsletters — easily — that can massively affect your business growth.

If you have a newsletter, enter it THIS WEEK in the contest. (I’m entering mine!) Nominations close Sunday, July 25, at 9 pm Pacific, and voting is the following week with winners announced August 2.

If you don’t have a newsletter (YET!), definitely go anyway. This is a SUPER-RARE opportunity for you to see what your peers are doing with their newsletters and to take advantage of Linda’s free resources and expert newsletter information.

You’ll get educated. You’ll get inspired. And my hope is you’ll get into ACTION!

http://ow.ly/2da29

ALSO, be sure to register for the free webinar that Linda’s giving on August 2. In addition to announcing the winners and exploring WHY they’re winners, she’ll also reveal some of the newest trends affecting newsletters and let you know about some BRAND NEW resources that will help you get going (easily!) with your own newsletter.

So head on over to the “Next Top Newsletter Showdown!”
http://ow.ly/2da29

Here’s why I love this idea:

When you host your own contest, you will be perceived as a leader in your field.

Following Linda’s model, you’ll get these additional benefits
1. Build a list of people who are interested in your topic.
2. Build credibility with that audience.
3. Build trust.
4. Get a lot of great ideas from seeing the entries.
5. Network with the contest entrants.
6. Create a news story for the media.
7. Become an expert source for the media.
8. Get new clients.
9. Charge higher fees.
10. Set yourself apart from competitors.

What contest could you hold? What partners can help you promote it? How will get the word out? What will the winners receive? How can you make money from the people who follow the contest? How will you get the word out to the media so you can be seen as the thought leader?

Answer these questions and you’ll be closer to being seen as the leader in your field.

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. To see how you can improve your business, go to http://www.prleadsplus.com

This article can be re-printed on your website, blog or ezine.

Filed Under: branding, internet marketing, Marketing, publicity

How one consultant gets tons of press with PR LEADS and how maximizes the results

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In building my business, I’ve found PRLeads.com very useful. Here’s how I use it.

John Reddish

1. I set up my account with key words relating to my expertise – reporters seeking expert input send queries to ProfNet for posting. Experts are free to respond or not. Reporters have no obligation to use input as received (so it’s important to either know the publication/service, or the reporter and what and how they write, or at least do research when you can (some items are cloaked) – Google search is great for helping me decide who and what to respond to;

2. I respond to those items that resonate with me, to publications where I think my voice will be heard and that seem to hold opportunity. I keep my overall branding plan in mind so that I don’t go too far afield from where I want to project myself.

3. Unless there is a special reason, or target market I want reach, I tend not to respond to authors seeking input for books they intend to publish. Not knowing them, or the other content they might use, I approach these queries cautiously;

4. To find out when I get quoted (sometimes the reporter lets you know, sometimes not), I do regular Google searches using my name, the reporter’s name and the publication’s name. Also of note, some reporters re-purpose and re-quote in syndication of their pieces and/or in using your input in related articles. I once gave a reporter input for a MS Small business site and more than a year later the same article appeared in East Africa Trade News – who knew!;

4. Once I have the quote, I get a link to it and send a brief synopsis of the article, the link and that fact that I was quoted to clients who might be interested, to clients where I need to keep contact, to prospects, to friends and family and post to my blog and/or web site. When appropriate, I also send the mailing to trade press (judiciously and only where it might be useful for them – some have even called with a new slant for pieces they want to do but this is rare) and alumni news outlets – you never know.

5. Once I know either the style/approach of the publication/service, or the reporter’s style, I decide on whether to go long- or short-copy.  If I think the reporter can use in-depth (not too in depth) background on his/her query, I give it.  Otherwise, I’m a big fan of bullets and key phrases that have potential for Buzz while still being dead-on.

This visibility builds credibility very well and makes client conversions more a process of helping them buy and not selling them.

Best regards,
John

John helps entrepreneurs and other leaders who want to master growth, transition and succession to get results faster, less painfully and in ways that work for them. This happens through consulting, coaching/mentoring, speaking, and/or training. Contact John: www.linkedin.com/in/johnreddish, or web – www.GetResults.com, www.TheSuccessionPlanner.com. John is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and the International Coach Federation.

Filed Under: branding, General Advice, Marketing, publicity
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